Five civilians killed in armed attack, west of Kirkuk: Source

Kirkuk (IraqiNews.com) Five civilians, including a woman, were killed in an armed attack, west of Kirkuk, a local source said on Sunday.

“A group of gunmen, believed to be members of Islamic State, attacked a village in al-Riyad town in Hawija, leaving five civilians, including a woman, killed,” the source told AlSumaria News.

“Security troops transferred the victims to forensic medicine department,” the source, who preferred anonymity, added without giving further details.

A total of 91 Iraqi civilians were killed and 208 others were injured in acts of terrorism, violence and armed conflict in February, according to the monthly report issued by the United Nations Assistance Mission for Iraq (UNAMI).

As many as 3,298 civilians were killed and 4,781 others were wounded in 2017, excluding Anbar civilian casualty figures for November and December, which are not available, UNAMI said in a report in December.

Thousands of IS militants as well as Iraqi civilians were killed since the government campaign, backed by paramilitary troops and the coalition was launched in October 2016 to fight the militant group, which declared a self-styled “caliphate” from Mosul in June 2014.